Alex's brother and the JLPT
Alex's brother Zach just spent the week with us. He took that long as flight from America and I'm not quiet sure we gave him what he was wanting. Our first couple days we took him drinking, to karaoke, out to eat, shopping in a medium size city, and shopping in a big city. I think he enjoyed pretty much everything except for the shopping. I found that out by kind of overhearing a telephone conversation with his wife. He said that there were too many people and stuff like that. I hope that was the only time he didn't have fun.
In addition to that stuff we took him to an Ainu Culture/History museum and to a craft shop that the owner makes all the crafts. Around here Ainu craftsman are famous for woodworking. Our friend at Tsutomu (the shop name) makes amazing art work, he specializes in touristy owls, foxes, and horses but he makes some amazingly detailed stuff other than that. He made a dragon fly with a design on the wings. I think one of us took a picture. If I find it I'll post it but take my word for it, amazing. I think Zach really dug that. I know I did.
We went to one of Alex's schools too. At first I did not want to go because I took the day off, I didn't want to go to school. Haha. But I went for the benefit of the group instead of the individual. I actually had fun and school lunch was pretty good too. (I normally work at only high schools where there is no school lunch)
The last full day of Zach's trip I took him on a walk through the mountain paths of Biratori. There is a path that takes you up to an observation point. It has awesome "Beware of Bear" signs and everything. We also went to Yoshitsune Shine and it's treasure museum. I had a good time and I think he did too.
Alex is pretty bummed to see him go but I'm glad Zach came. I think it was probably good for both of them.
In other news...I'm studying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 2 (Level 1 is the hardest). I'm so sick of studying but the test is next Sunday. I'm not excited. I hope I pass though. That would be a miracle. It's so hard.
In addition to that stuff we took him to an Ainu Culture/History museum and to a craft shop that the owner makes all the crafts. Around here Ainu craftsman are famous for woodworking. Our friend at Tsutomu (the shop name) makes amazing art work, he specializes in touristy owls, foxes, and horses but he makes some amazingly detailed stuff other than that. He made a dragon fly with a design on the wings. I think one of us took a picture. If I find it I'll post it but take my word for it, amazing. I think Zach really dug that. I know I did.
We went to one of Alex's schools too. At first I did not want to go because I took the day off, I didn't want to go to school. Haha. But I went for the benefit of the group instead of the individual. I actually had fun and school lunch was pretty good too. (I normally work at only high schools where there is no school lunch)
The last full day of Zach's trip I took him on a walk through the mountain paths of Biratori. There is a path that takes you up to an observation point. It has awesome "Beware of Bear" signs and everything. We also went to Yoshitsune Shine and it's treasure museum. I had a good time and I think he did too.
Alex is pretty bummed to see him go but I'm glad Zach came. I think it was probably good for both of them.
In other news...I'm studying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 2 (Level 1 is the hardest). I'm so sick of studying but the test is next Sunday. I'm not excited. I hope I pass though. That would be a miracle. It's so hard.